Rising Stars: Meet Thom Berger

Today we’d like to introduce you to Thom Berger.

Hi Thom, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My story really starts when I was a kid creating little stories and characters in my head that felt so expressive I needed to draw them out and bring them into real life. This expression of inner worlds and feelings has followed me through my art career, leading my to stick with certain character archetypes to help express and distinguish ambiguous feelings.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
In a way yes and no. Art feels like one of the only things in life that is certain. When I sit down to create, I know what I am doing and what I want to see in the end. So in that state of creation, even the technical challenges are easy because I at least feel certain of what needs to be done. Outside of creating and pertaining to career paths has been difficult. I find myself really wanting to fall away from the 9-5 and truly immerse myself day to day in creating but this has brought the biggest challenge to my focus and that certainty that the creating leads to. In searching for monetary gains in my art, I’ve gotten a little lost looking for what ways are the best ways to make money but also feel like I’m expressing my art in its best form.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
What I do is use a certain set of characters that are archetypes in my mind that help me to express and explore my view of the world. I specialize in pen and ink, which I use to create really dynamic anatomy that gives a lot of people a tacit experience of the feeling I am expressing. I am most proud of my work that gets people to react in a physical sense. Before I sit down to draw, I like to move my body, find a rhythm in expression and then put that on the page. I feel really happy when people understand why the figure is bent or pushed the way that it is. I think what sets me apart form others are my characters but the pen technique that creates depth and scratchy action-filled lines.

Can you share something surprising about yourself?
As dark as my art might seem, I am a very happy dude. I also love teaching and if art doesn’t work out in the end, I wouldn’t be remiss to be going back into education.

Contact Info:

• Email: thomasjberger@icloud.com
• Website: https://thomjberger.com
• Instagram: thomjberger